The director of "Rebels" travels around
This year's TV series "Rebels" broadcast by the Central Committee Eight has an average rating of 0.92%, an average viewership share of 4.64%, a single episode with a maximum rating of 1.59%, and a single episode with a maximum rating share of 7.5%, ranking first in the national hit dramas of the same period for 20 consecutive days. Although the premiere has been over 3 months old, "Rebels" is still on the list when it comes to the excellent episodes that aired this year.
The audience will never forget, and a good drama will have an echo. CCTV TV series interviewed the director of "Rebel" Zhou You at this autumn fair.
Such a behind-the-scenes worker, when answering questions, chose not to appear on camera, but used a clear talk to talk to the audience and readers about the creative process of "Rebel", about the actors, and their future creative direction.
Here's how to travel around.
A novel adaptation of The Rebel:
Spend more than a year polishing the "shooting script"
I first read the novel "Rebel". It really touched me.
First of all, the strength of the novel is particularly large. The text is calm.
Moreover, the amount of information in the novel is very large. Although the length is not so long, there is a lot of room to be tapped.
In addition, the span of (physical) time and space is also very large. Therefore, it is possible that the novel will be made into a theatrical structure that spans many years and goes through many different historical periods.
Therefore, at that time, I felt that this novel was worth excavating and creating.
But the main problem is that it is not enough.
The original book is more than 40,000 words, and the script of "Rebel" is about 400,000 or 500,000 words of a long novel. So, the screenwriter added a lot of content.
The process of adaptation is a complex and arduous, but very firm process.
The adaptation took quite a long time. After the first few screenwriters came up with the script, I led the screenwriting team to adjust the script for more than a year.
Many details, including props and so on, are enriched in this process. When I really shoot, after all, I am a director, and entering with the director's thinking is equivalent to the drama having both a screenwriter's thinking and a director's thinking. In fact, in the end, it took more than a year to make a "shooting script" similar to the director's workbenche.
We added a lot of prop design, detailed hints, scene descriptions, etc., especially the scenes that run through the plot. We did it over and over again, looked up a lot of information, and tried to weave the plot together. In terms of props, we pay special attention to restoration, after all, we are a certain distance from that era.
2. About the Characters:
The actors for all the main roles are first choices
In the process of combing the plot, each character became clear little by little in my heart through different events.
The general outline, the feeling they give, and the differences between them, the way they are handled, the personality, etc., are gradually enriched.
In the process of combing the script, it is not only the form of a character that is gradually presented, but also the layout of the character's fate.
From the beginning of the thought, to the contact with the actors, to the fitting. When filming really started, the actors in all the main roles were the first choices.
And it just so happens that these actors also have time, are more interested in these characters, can be grasped, and are willing to invest enthusiasm to co-create, without special difficulties in finding actors, which is very wonderful.
In this regard, I think this play is very lucky.
III About the Cast:
I want to find a young actor who has never acted in a spy war scene
When I first looked for actors, I wanted to find some people who had not acted in spy dramas.
More fresh, better.
Therefore, unlike Teacher Li Qiang or Teacher Wang Zhiwen, who has rich experience in acting, many of the young actors have not even acted in period dramas, not to mention the genre of "Rebels" and the dramas with strong role and professional characteristics. In the play, except for Lan Xinjie, there is no agent identity, basically everyone else is a secret agent.
It's good that young actors are probably more out of recognition of their characters and are willing to put their passions into it.
Almost every major character in the play has undergone growth and change. Before the Battle of Songhu, to the stage of the all-out War of Resistance, and from the victory of the War of Resistance to the founding of New China, if "Rebels" involves three major historical stages, basically these main characters have crossed at least two stages, and most of them have gone through three stages.
Especially the young cast, who span 13 years in the play. It was from the youngest time, about twenty or thirty years old, until I was in my 40s.
During this period, the times changed greatly, and there were many twists and turns in the fate of each of them. So, they grow and change a lot at every stage. I think that's really well presented in that regard.
However, "Rebel" still has many shortcomings, mainly because everyone has adopted an inclusive and encouraging attitude.
About the future direction of creation:
I still like stories with a little more emotional intensity
Spy drama, once again, I dare not do it, I can't do it. Because I have checked a lot of information. In fact, I think that I also have limited ability, if I really do it again, it may take a few more years, and I can have some accumulation to see what angles are worth digging into this subject.
In fact, I think there are many subjects that I have limited ability, not that I am comfortable with everything.
Next, such as comedy, business wars, etc., I also want to do, looking for. I'm a slow-heat type, so there may be a process.
I still prefer stories with a stronger emotional concentration.